Speaker: Lauren Ross (Logic and Philosophy of Science University of California, Irvine, USA)
Date: Thursday 11 March 2021
Time: 18-20 h (Central European Time, i.e. Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin).
Location: online lecture. Zoom link: https://radbouduniversity.zoom.us/j/89707537335?pwd=OEEwbGxXZ1hReDJ1cnRYR29NK2ROQT09
Video of the talk
Tracers in neuroscience: Causation, constraints, and connectivity
This talk examines tracer techniques in neuroscience, which are used to identify neural connections in the brain and nervous system. These connections capture a type of “structural connectivity” that is expected to inform our understanding of the functional nature of these tissues (Sporns 2007). This is due to the fact that neural connectivity constrains the flow of signal propagation, which is a type of causal process in neurons. This work explores how tracers are used to identify causal information, what standards they are expected to meet, the forms of causal information they provide, and how an analysis of these techniques contributes to the philosophical literature, in particular, the literature on mark transmission and mechanistic accounts of causation.
Lauren Ross is an Assistant Professor in the Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine. She received a Ph.D. from the History and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh and an M.D. from the University of California, Irvine. Her research concerns explanation and causation--it explores the diversity of explanatory patterns, causal structures, and investigative methods in science. While dominant philosophical views suggest that neuroscientific explanation is "mechanistic", her work has explored different explanatory patterns in this domain including pathway, network, and mathematical explanations. She has published in Philosophy of Science, The British Journal for Philosophy of Science, and Synthese, and has received a Humboldt Fellowship and an NSF Career award for her work.
For more information about The Dutch Distinguished Lecture Series in Philosophy and Neuroscience and the program of talks for this semester, please click here.
Organiser(s): Daniel Kostic, Henk de Regt, Leon de Bruin, Marc Slors, Peter Hagoort
and Gerrit Glas.
Date: Thursday 11 March 2021
Time: 18-20 h (Central European Time, i.e. Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin).
Location: online lecture. Zoom link: https://radbouduniversity.zoom.us/j/89707537335?pwd=OEEwbGxXZ1hReDJ1cnRYR29NK2ROQT09
Video of the talk
Tracers in neuroscience: Causation, constraints, and connectivity
This talk examines tracer techniques in neuroscience, which are used to identify neural connections in the brain and nervous system. These connections capture a type of “structural connectivity” that is expected to inform our understanding of the functional nature of these tissues (Sporns 2007). This is due to the fact that neural connectivity constrains the flow of signal propagation, which is a type of causal process in neurons. This work explores how tracers are used to identify causal information, what standards they are expected to meet, the forms of causal information they provide, and how an analysis of these techniques contributes to the philosophical literature, in particular, the literature on mark transmission and mechanistic accounts of causation.
Lauren Ross is an Assistant Professor in the Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine. She received a Ph.D. from the History and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh and an M.D. from the University of California, Irvine. Her research concerns explanation and causation--it explores the diversity of explanatory patterns, causal structures, and investigative methods in science. While dominant philosophical views suggest that neuroscientific explanation is "mechanistic", her work has explored different explanatory patterns in this domain including pathway, network, and mathematical explanations. She has published in Philosophy of Science, The British Journal for Philosophy of Science, and Synthese, and has received a Humboldt Fellowship and an NSF Career award for her work.
For more information about The Dutch Distinguished Lecture Series in Philosophy and Neuroscience and the program of talks for this semester, please click here.
Organiser(s): Daniel Kostic, Henk de Regt, Leon de Bruin, Marc Slors, Peter Hagoort
and Gerrit Glas.